A Filipino-American nurse practitioner has been charged in one of the largest healthcare fraud cases uncovered by U.S. authorities this year, with prosecutors alleging a scheme that involved more than $906 million in fraudulent Medicare and TRICARE claims.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Marizel Cambri Yukee, a Filipino-American nurse originally from Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, was indicted in Houston, Texas, on multiple federal charges, including healthcare fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, and illegal kickbacks. She is accused of orchestrating the massive scheme through wound care clinics operating in the Houston area.
Federal prosecutors allege that between 2022 and 2025, Yukee and her co-conspirators submitted more than $906 million in false claims to Medicare and TRICARE for expensive skin substitute graft procedures that were medically unnecessary. Investigators claim many of the treatments were performed on elderly patients, including terminally ill individuals, with some procedures allegedly carried out on healed or non-infected wounds solely to maximize reimbursements.
Authorities also allege that healthcare providers were paid kickbacks for referring patients to the clinics and that medical records were falsified to justify the treatments. The indictment states that approximately $297 million was ultimately paid out by federal healthcare programs as a result of the alleged fraudulent claims.
The Justice Department further alleges that proceeds from the scheme were used to purchase luxury assets, including a Ferrari, an expensive Bulgari necklace, a home in Hawaii, and a beach resort property in the Philippines. Federal authorities have moved to seize assets believed to have been acquired using the alleged fraud proceeds.
The case forms part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, in which the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against 455 defendants linked to more than $6.5 billion in alleged healthcare fraud across the United States. Officials described the nationwide operation as the largest healthcare fraud enforcement action in the department’s history.
As with all criminal cases, the charges against Yukee remain allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.